Coin vending machine



Dec 29, 1964 s. A. MAXWELL 3,163,327

COIN VENDING MACHINE Filed July 9, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet l STEWART ALFREDMAXWELL BY ArroRA/ Eys Dec. 29, 1964 s. A. MAXWELL 3,163,327

coIN VENDING MACHINE Filed July 9, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I' .IY I Till/VVENTOR ST EWA RT ALFRED MAXWELL l w TTR/VEYS Dec. 29, 1964 s. A.MAXWELL 3,163,327

COIN VENDING MACHINE Filed July 9, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 /N VEN TORSTEWART ALFRED MAXWELL BY l #A Fl (5.6-

ATTORNEYS Y in an inclined or loading position.

United States Patent() 3,163,327 G01N VENDING MACIHNE Stewart A.Maxwell, Waisall, England, assigner to Fisher Ludlow Limited,Birmingham, England, a British company Filed July 9, 1962, Ser. No.208,229 6 Claims. (Cl. 221-114) This invention relates to coin vendingmachines andv is concerned with that type of machine having a magazinewhich is mounted in the casing of the machine, the magazine being formedwith or carrying guides defining one or more columns in which thearticles to be delivered by the machine can be stacked. In such a ma- 1chine there is provided, in association with the or each way or likeposition and are therefore designed to be as compact as possible inorder to'cause minimum obstruction. However, in order to minimise theattention needed by the Vmachine thepmaidrnum possible capacity must beprovided, this also being desirable from'the point of view of the owneror person renting the machine obtaining the maximum return from themachine. The

result is that in many instances the combination or compactness withmaximum capacity results in their being little space insidey the machinebetween the top of the magazine and the top of the casing, so thatreilling the magazine is a slow md tedious operation.

The object of the present invention is to provideV an improvedconstruction of coin vending machine which will not Sutter from theabove disadvantage and yet which will retain the same compactness andcapacity as comparable known machines.

According to the present invention, I provide a coin vending machine ofthe above type, wherein Vthe magazine and the casing are provided withco-operating means whereby the magazine may be supported in the casingin either an operative or a loading position. Y

The magazine mounting may be such that the magazine maybe swung into aninclined positionewith'respect to the casing in which the upper orloading end of the magazine is fully exposed. Alternatively, oradditionally, the mounting may be such that the magazine can be liftedbodily from the casing.`

Conveniently, the mounting for the magazine may include a pair ofdownwardly projecting extensions on the lower end of the magazine toengage the article release mechanism or other suitable part carried bythe casing and co-operating formations at the upper end of the magazineand on the upper end of the casing, whereby the magazine can be hookedin position.

The release mechanism for delivering articles from the magazine willnormally include a rotatable spindle and preferably the downwardextensions are provided with open-endedelongated slots whereby they mayengage over the spindle.

The co-operating formations on the upper end of the magazine on theupper end ofthe casing may conveniently comprise a slot formed inasuitable transverse member associated with the magazine and a steppedforwardly extending bracket secured to the` casing, the stepped bracketprovidingrfor positive'. location of the magazine,

in its operative position and for temporary location thereof l tical.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein,

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation, with part of the casing broken away, of acoin vending machineincorporating the invention. Y

FiGURE 2 is a side elevation with the side walls of the two coversbroken away, both FIGURES 1 and 2 being broken so as to reduce theheight of the machine( FIGURE. 3 is a detail showing the arrangement forholding the magazine against axial movement.

FIGURE 4 is a detail showing the article delivery mechanism.

FIGURE 5 is a detail showingV an alternative form of magazine attachmentbracket. Y

FGURE 6 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 showing an. alternativeconstruction. Y

FIGURE 7 is a side elevation of the construction shown in FGURE 6 andFIGURE 8 is a detail showing the magazine attachment bracket.

In the form of my invention illustrated in FGURES l to 5 the coinvending machine is of generally rectangular form and is adapted to bemounted on some suitable vertically extending support with its major.axis ver- The body of the machine is composed of a rear inner casing 1liwhich is oiopen box-like form and a front outer casing 11 which is alsoof open box-like form,

the front outer casing 11 being of somewhat larger dimensions than therear inner casing 16, so that the front outer casing is a sliding iitover the rear inner casing.

The front casing 11 carries the coin slot 12 and the delivery opening 13through which articles are delivered from the machinewhilst the rearcasing 10 carries the coin selection mechanism 14 andthe .releasemechanism 1S which latter mechanism is operable, after the cor,-

' rect coinage has been inserted in the machine, by means .expose theinside of the machine, the rear casing being l screwed or otherwisesecured to the supporting structure.

ln order to facilitate the refilling thereof, the magazine 17 isdetachably mounted on the rear casing 1d. The

. magazine 17 is constructed of sheet metal and comprises a pair .ofchannel section members 18 which are secured' Y together by means ofupper and lower straps 19, the open 1 sides of the channel sectionmembers 1S being directed toward one another. With suchV an arrangementthe base 2410i each member 18 constitutes a side of the magazine whilstthe sides 29 of each member 18 constitute guides for the ends of thearticles 21.

if desired channel vsection guideviniembers maybe secured to the bars 19intermediate the members il'so as Y to' provide additional columns forthe magazine..

Adjacent the lower end of the magazine 17 the Yfront, side of eachmember 1S is cut-'away forV a suitable distance in order to permitdelivery of'articles forwardly of the magazine. The front sides,adjacent the cut away por-l tions, are also curved forwardly assho'wnat` 9 to assist in smooth Vdelivery of the articles. The articledelivery mechanism includes a spindle Z2 which can be rotated by thehandle 16 consequent .upoiivoperation oftherelease `mechanism 15and'this, spindle 22 has secured thereto an.;V .y angle section plate 23which'is adapted :to support` the Patented Dec. 29, 1964 lowermostarticle in the magazine and, inresponse to rotation of the spindle 22,to deliver the lowermost article to the delivery opening 13. This plate23 is formed .as an extrusion and comprises an article supporting arm 24which is disposed horizontally in the at rest or nonoperative positionof the delivery mechanism, an attachment arm Z which is adapted to besecured to the spindle 22 and a forwardly and upwardly extending guidearm 26 which retains the lowermost article in position.

The size and shape of the arms 24 and 25 will, of

course,.be selected in accordance with the type of article that is to bedelivered from the machine.

As will be seen from FIGURE 4 the spindle 22 .is provided with a portionwhich is of square section and secured to the opposite side of thissquare portion to that to which the attachment ann 25 is secured, is ablade member 27 which is adapted to engage theV rear of the lowermostarticles so as to project same into the delivery opening. Convenientlythe blade 27 is secured to the spindle 22 by means of the same screws 28as are used to secure the attachment arm 25.

The lower end of the magazine 17 is provided with a pair of downwardlyextending projections 29 which are integral with the side walls 20thereof, each projection 29 having in itsl lower edge an open-ended slot30 whereby tive position, the upper end of the magazine is provided theprojections may engage over the spindleZZ associated Y with the releasemechanism. Such an arrangement supports and permits the correct locationof the lower end of the magazine 17 with respect to the releasemechanism 15 and also permits the magazine 17 to pivot around thespindle 22 of the release mechanism or to be lifted off the releasemechanism.

In order to effect location ofthe upper end of the magazine 17, theupper transverse member 19 of the frame of the magazine is formed ofright angle Z-section so that the two flanges 31 and 32 thereof areparallel with readily filled, such position being shown in chain dottedlines in the upper portion of FIGURE 2.

As will be seen from FIGURE 2, the limb 40 terminates a `short distancebelow the end of the casing so that, if desired, the magazine may belifted clear of the casing. It will of course be appreciated that as theangle section plate 23 supports the articles in the magazine, themagazineV will only be removed from the casing when/it is completelyempty.

With a delivery mechanism of the type shown in FIG URES l and 2, thereis :a tendency for the articles 21 to be lifted in the magazine duringthe delivery operation and, in order to hold the magazine 17 firmly inits operawhen the outer casing is in position, the magazine 17 can-r notlift due to the abutment between the bracket 41 and Vthe stud 44 butwhen it is desired to reload the magazine the outer cover will, ofcourse, be removed so that the Y Vmagazine can be lifted and moved intoits inclined. or

loading position.

If desired, the magazine may be retained permanently in the machine andto this end the construction shown in FIGURE 5 is adopted. As seen inFIGURE 5, the one limb 49 of the magazine attachment bracket 35 isexeach other and at right angles to the web 33. The oneV flange 31 formsthe attachment member to which the members 18 of the magazine 17 aresecured, whilst the other flange 32 abuts against the base of the rearcasing 10 when the magazine is in its operative position.

The other or rear flange 32 of the upper transverse member 19 extendsupwardly with respect to the magazine 17 and is provided intermediateits ends with aV slot 34 through which passes an attachment bracket 35secured to and extending forwardly from the base of the rear casing 10.This attachment bracket 35 is of Z-section, the one end limb 36 thereofbeing welded or other-V wise secured to the base ofthe rear casing 10.The transverse limb 37 is disposed so that it is somewhat downwardlyinclined, and is crankedV ashort distance forwardly of the limb V36, soas to provide a vertical or substantially vertical shoulder 38 which isa quarter of an inch in front of the base of the rear casing 1i). Therear ange 32 of the upper transverse member 19 associated with themagazine 17 isV provided adjacent the upper edge of the slot 35 with aforwardly projecting finger 39 which is a quarter of ari-inch in depthfrom/ front to rear. When the. magazine 17 is in its operative t tendedso that it abuts against the upper end of the outer casing 11, the limb49 being actually secured to the end of the inner casing 10 as indicatedby the weld 45.

In the construction shown in FIGURES 6 to 8, sthe magazine 17 is dividedinto three compartments 46, the magazine being adapted for the storageof relatively small Y articles such as packets of chewing gum. Thedelivery so as to positively locate the magazine 17 in its operative Y Yposition.

The magazine7rcan be released by merely liftingthe magazine so that theforward edge of this finger 39 is clear of the shoulder 38 .ontheattachment bracket wheretransverse member rests against theV limb 4t),the magazine 17 is supported in an inclined position with respect to thecasing,so that the uppern or loading end thereof is fully exposedthereby enabling. the magazine toibo spindle 47 is of the continuouslyrotatable type, that ifs to say, after delivery of an article thespindle will lock and.V can, then be released, upon insertion of theappropriate coinage, so that further rotation through a predeterminedangle will deliver a funtherarticle. The spindle 47 is provided withthree pairs of delivery fingers 48, 49

and 50, the individual pairs of delivery fingers being in register withthe three compartments 46 as is clearly seen from FIGURE 6. As seen fromFIGURE 7, the individual fingers are spaced angularly around the spindle47 by 60" and operation of the delivery mechanismk is as follows. Inresponse to successive insertions of the correct coinage the one. finger49 will'deliver an article from the centre compartment 46; the nextrotation of the spindle 47 will cause the one finger 50 to deliver an.article from itsV associated compartment whilst the next rotation willcause the one finger 48 to deliver an article. l

In order to support the article in the magazine the lower end thereof isinturned, asshown at 51, suitable slots 52.

Ywall of the magazine so as .to Vpermit movement of the the entiremagazine shouldthis be desired.

What Iclaim lthen is:

The front limb 40 t serves tosupport the magazine in an inclined orloading. r position, should it be'desiredfto. reload the. empty or.partially empty magazine butpermits ready `removal .of i

1. A coin vending machine comprising a ',casing, a i v.

magazine mounted in said casing, the magazine being formed with guidesdening a plurality of columns in which the articles to be delivered bythe machine can be stacked, an article delivery mechanism and releasemechanism operable in response to insertion of the correct coinage intothe machine to release the article delivery mechanism and deliver thelowermost article from a column, and in which:

(a) the `article delivery mechanism includes a rotatable spindle havingspaced article ejector fingers and means 4to actuate said spindle,

(b) said magam'ne having means coopenating With said spindle -topivotally mount said magazine on said spindle,

(c) the magazine and casing are provided with cooperating means adaptedto enable the magazine to be supported in and moved Ibetween anoperative position and a loading position.

2. A coin vending machine according to claim 1 in which ytheco-operating means of Ithe magazine and casing include a first bracketmounted on the casing which bracket is provided lat one end with aportion which extends into contact with the casing so as to preventcomplete removal of the magazine and in which the upper end of themagazine 'is provided with a second bracket having ya slot through whichsaid first bracket extends.

3. A coin vending machine according t-o claim 2 in which said iirstbracket is provided with a shoulder adjacent the casing of the machineand said second bracket is provided with a nger adjacent theaforementioned slot, said linger being adapted to be located againstsaid shoulder when the magazine is in its operative position.

4. A coin vending machine according to ciaim 3 in which the upper end ofIthe magazine is provided with a bracket member on said secondl bracketadapted to abut against a stop mounted on said casing of the machine, soas to positively locate the magazine against movement when in itsoperative position, the stop consisting of a locating stud secured tothe casing and adapted to engage said ybracket member when the machineis in its assembled operative state.

5. A coin vending machine according to claim l in which the lower end ofthe magazine is provided with an inturned base so that articles may besupported by the magazine when it is taken out of the machine, slotsbeing formed in the base through which said article ejecting -ingers maypass. y

6. A coin vending machine according to claim 1 wherein said co-operatingmeans includes abracket in which one end of the -bracket provides anabutment against which the magazine may rest when in the loadingposition, said abutment lretaining the magazine in the loading positionbut permitting removal of the magazine from the machine. Y

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS716,058 Laing et al Dec. 16, 1902 757,993 Coleman et al Apr.`19, 19041,008,384 Spaulding Nov. 14, 1911 1,171,953 Hinckley Feb. 15, 19161,584,328 Shelters et al May 11, 1926 2,188,573 Longo Jan. 30, 1940

1. A COIN VENDING MACHINE COMPRISING A CASING, A MAGAZINE MOUNTED INSAID CASING, THE MAGAZINE BEING FORMED WITH GUIDES DEFINING A PLURALITYOF COLUMNS IN WHICH THE ARTICLES TO BE DELIVERED BY THE MACHINE CAN BESTACKED, AN ARTICLE DELIVERY MECHANISM AND RELEASE MECHANISM OPERABLE INRESPONSE TO INSERTION OF THE CORRECT COINAGE INTO THE MACHINE TO RELEASETHE ARTICLE DELIVERY MECHANISM AND DELIVER THE LOWERMOST ARTICLE FROM ACOLUMN, AND IN WHICH: (A) THE ARTICLE DELIVERY MECHANISM INCLUDES AROTATABLE SPINDLE HAVING SPACED ARTICLE EJECTOR FINGERS AND MEANS TOACTUATE AND SPINDLE, (B) SAID MAGAZINE HAVING MEANS COOPERATING WITHSAID SPINDLE TO PIVOTALLY MOUNT AND MAGAZINE ON SAID SPINDLE, (C) THEMAGAZINE AND CASING ARE PROVIDED WITH COOPERATING MEANS ADAPTED TOENABLE THE MAGAZINE TO